Day 23: 1,500 Miles!

Day 23 already? Is it intimidating to anyone else that we're still just BARELY under the halfway point in terms of days I'm blogging?

Gil's cliff notes of yesterday added to that post Sunday afternoon.

So tonight I've given a very sick kitty three meds (small pill, large pill, liquid narcotic), gotten him to eat some, then cleaned out the (fabric) chair he accidentally relieved himself on. (Totally not his fault; it was 45 minutes after he got a muscle relaxer for the urinary tract. Good to know about that particular side effect.) When I went to throw out the roll and a half of paper towels I used to soak it through three times, a big juicy hopping bug came in from the shop and I had to kill it. Cleaning the chair caused less anxiety, though it was considerably more time consuming and harder on the wrists. And I remembered this thing at 12:30 am. So I'm totally in the mood to blog! (Repeat to self: earning rent, being useful, earning rent...)

Alrighty. Today they headed from Great Bend to McPherson, KS - 63 miles. "A short ride today," he said. Whatever. He reports that Kansas is "extensively green" and is full of wheat, grass, and "whatever else they have - maybe corn?" They've had too much rain in Kansas, and it's just beautiful. (When there aren't tornadoes and the like, I assume.) There's some ponding in the fields and streams are overflowing from the excess precipitation. (Speaking of excess precipitation, I've gotten up three times so far to check on the kitty trying desperately to rid himself of a few days' worth of constant IV fluids. I know you needed the status update.)

Dad said it was a very pleasant day and ride; for the most part they rolled along at a pretty good clip. He's really enjoying the country out there ("marvelous country"), particularly the mid-size towns (defined as "bigger than Akron [CO, I'm pretty sure], more the size of Yuma [AZ]." He enjoys the feel of the towns, with "very nice courthouses," old buildings, and old named streets. "Really kinda cool." Plus, there are nice parks, which is kind of a generic compliment but still quite pleasant!

Examples of these mid-sized towns he enjoys: they had a SAG stop in a town called Lions - "most pleasant town, just beautiful." McPherson's "kinda that way too, a very nice town." A (the?) courthouse in Lions is pictured here.

They got into McPherson by 1/1:15 - good time! Their motel rooms weren't ready yet, so they killed an hour at a Sonic Drive Thru "like back in the 50's." They settled in outside on an island in the lot and placed their orders at a central machine. You apparently push buttons to order your food; at the drive thru, you place your order that way out where your car is and then they bring your order out to your car. They put away huge burgers, fries, sundaes - "it was REAL good." The video camera was out and about during the meal. He otherwise didn't get too much on video today; "pretty much the same scenery as yesterday."

They did laundry yesterday, so he didn't have to do that this evening, he can wait till tomorrow. If you're curious about how they do laundry: When I spoke to him yesterday, he mentioned that they had just left a laundromat. I didn't question it, but thought to myself, "wow, his clothes are finally getting REALLY, ACTUALLY clean!" Silly daughter. They (I'm assuming Dad's not alone here, because you can hardly find and pay for a laundromat every 2-3 days) still did their laundry in the sink (hotel handsoap? shampoo?), but they got tired of waiting for it to dry. Apparently I was right and the Kansas weather didn't lend itself to hanging it outside the hotel. Or it was a classier joint and it would have been frowned upon. So they just went and DRIED their clothes at the laundromat. Bonus: a sub shop was right next door, so they could eat.

TWO more DVDs on the way; one of more recent pictures through Great Bend, one of stills from the video camera of the storms and storm clouds in Kansas, which the video camera captured much better than the regular camera.